Old Vette motor in the shop

[rumrumm]

It is a pretty cool engine and I don't know why GM discontinued it and went back to a pushrod V8.

I've been told they take special tools and training to keep them running.  One 'vette publication says make sure you have a good ZR-1 ready service facility within a couple hundred miles.

They don't compete performance wise with the much less complicated or expensive LS-7 motors available in today's Corvettes.

Maybe that is why we never see the NSRA give-away Chevy roadster.

[39deluxe]

The ZR1 was a high cost option from 1990 through 1995. It doubled the cost of the car. When they developed the LT4 option for 1996 it had the same performance at normal small block cost which helped to make 1995 the last year for the DOHC Lotus designed engine. Then in 1997 when the LS1 was introduced that changed everything. Today's LS3 base motor for the Corvette makes 436 hp with the Z06 making 505 and the new ZR1 making 638 hp. All using much cheaper to build and simple to maintain pushrod architecture. That's why the a stock production C6 ZR1 set a new GT class record at the Nuernbergring a few months ago besting all comers no  matter what they cost. The record has been broken since then by a race prepared Viper on race tires but that don't take anything away from a car being run right off the assembly line and into the record books. The driver was jim Mero, a GM chassis developement engineer and not a professional race driver. Ride along here ---------> http://vettetube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=89124e2ce92984e04fb4

Tom

[purplepickup]

Ride along here ---------> http://vettetube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=89124e2ce92984e04fb4

Tom

WOW!   I've got some good studio headphones and a large monitor and that was one hell of a ride. Sure would have liked to have been behind the wheel.  I noticed he shifted at 175 mph in that long straight section.  Nice...thanks

[Crosley.In.AZ]

obviously the engineer Jim Mero has experience at driving fast and a few miles at  that track....  beyond that ,  the ZR1 2009 Corvette is an amazing machine.

Back in the mid - late 1970's  on into the 1980's who would have thought that the engine power would be at the levels they are today?  And still with the basic push rod design of the great-grandpa 265 cid small block engine

[39deluxe]

I had the opportunity to ride in a pre-production prototype C6 Z06 a few months before they were released for sale with a friend that was a contract engineer to the Bowling Green assembly plant. At the time I could not imagine why anyone would ever need more car for the street and then they up the ante by over 130 horsepower by using a supercharger on a smaller displacement engine. They also improved every aspect of the car and lost a bunch of weight using carbon fiber. I haven't ridden in one yet but I hope it's soon.

Tom

[39deluxe]

I just happened to remember that I have a few ZR1 photos from the Corvette Classics Museum in Ft. Wayne. There is a whole row of them across the back wall.

[/img]

[OldSub]

That is amazing to watch.  He touched 180 maybe 1000 rpm short of the peak I'd seen in a lower gear.

I also noticed he hit the bumpy edge of the track a few times.  That both means he hadn't run it at speed enough times to get the line down perfect, AND the car must handle fantastic to do that at well over 100 and remain stable and predictable.

Suppose anyone would trade one of those for my old C4?  I need one!

[39deluxe]

I don't blame him for missing a few apexes. There are few that have mastered the Ring. It's 12.9 miles with 33 left hand and 40 right hand turns. Here is a map link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nordschleife.png

There is a lady driver that gives high speed laps to passengers in a BMW that is supposed to be about the best there is on the Ring. Can't remember her name right now but this is what she does for a living.

[purplepickup]

There is a lady driver that gives high speed laps to passengers in a BMW that is supposed to be about the best there is on the Ring. Can't remember her name right now but this is what she does for a living.

Her name is Sabine Schmitz.  Here is a youtube onboard video of her racing in the rain.  

&index=3

I watched a bunch of these last night.....full screen, volume cranked

[river1]

Her name is Sabine Schmitz.  

seems to be a heck of a driver. she's pretty cute too >  >



later jim

[39deluxe]

Great video. She is good but the Corvette makes better noises.

Tom

[rumrumm]

That is an amazing video. It would be fun to see how much further an experienced race driver could take it. I'll bet Sabine could put that 'Vette through its paces.

[wayne petty]

thinking about sabine...

did you see her put a ford van around the ring..

http://www.topgear.com/us/videos/more/sabine-a-van-the-ring-part-1

and even faster in part two

http://www.topgear.com/us/videos/more/sabine-a-van-the-ring-part-2

enjoy... the insanity of it